theFutonPoncho offices were deluged yesterday with questions surrounding the existence of a mind control program available on the internet, and we have developed an expalaination for the reason the program is seemingly able to read your thoughts.

Click here to Open the puzzle in its own window It Doesn’t work? Some browsers cannot parse the information. If you left click this link you will be given the option to download the puzzle to your desktop. Once there, you can double click “guessyournumber.swf” and it will present the puzzle to you.

How does it work? Read on to get the answer

Are you really sure you want to know this? Isn’t it much more fun believing the computer is magic? Stop now, live in blissful ignorance!

Ok. Ok. here it is:

1. There is really no reason to count to three other than perhaps to get you ready to be duped by an old trick.

2. The second screen asks you to chose a number, and then tell which color that number is. For this example let’s take 25. It is a green number. The only other Green numbers presented are: 9, 12, 16, and 23. After you click on the color it takes you to another screen.

3. This third screen is totally arbitrary and has no bearing on the outcome, except perhaps to make you forget that you just gave away a key piece of information, that is, that the number that you selected is either 9, 12, 16, 23 or 25.

4. The fourth screen gives you a series of “houses” that have numbers in them. It asks you to select the “house” that contains your number. It is important to note that 9, 12, 16, 23, and 25 are all in different houses. When you select the house with your unspoken number, you have told the computer that your number is 25 at that point.

5. The next screen directs you to say your number two times and select a crystal ball. Again, this is completely arbitrary and serves only to get you to forget that you have given the program all it needs to know about the number you have selected.

6. Upon clicking on a crystal ball you are presented three doors. Any door you pick will give you your number. That is how the program is set up. The program would probably be made more believable if it made mistakes on perhaps the first trial then correct every time thereafter.